Nicoles last blog post..Why Are You in Debt?–Part II

@Genesis – Thanks for really breaking your method down for me. That’s very helpful.

I check my email first thing in the morning and deal with any important issues immediately, getting them off my plate. For At Home Mom, I do this just once a day, and for my freelance writing account, I also check it at night, so I can get back to potential clients rapidly.

I only use social networks that are related to my blogs and/or don´t require constant monitoring. Twitter is out, though I like the concept. It´s just too distracting and you could easily spend all day there! Instead, I use StumbleUpon, Facebook, and also hang out at WorkIt, Mom! Each of these takes 5-10 min. a day and keeps a presence going.

When it comes to blogs, I have them very carefully organized into categories in Google Reader. There are certain categories (blogging, freelance jobs) that I read daily and others that I catch up on when I have a bit of downtime.And I purge once every month or two, since I often add an interesting blog to my reader just to monitor if it will stay interesting.

I think commenting on blogs is very useful, so I try to do at least 5 comments a day, which is not really a lot and doesn´t take much time. As I read in my feed reader, I open the blog posts I´m interested in commenting on in a new tab (Firefox) and at the end, go through and comment on all the ones I´ve opened.

Usually at the end of the day, I will scan job boards for work if I need it and apply for jobs at that point, taking only about 10 min. When you stay on top of it, you can get through stuff quickly.

Hope that helps!

Genesiss last blog post..Recognizing a Work at Home Scam

I mean, who are you REALLY networking with and WHY?

See, I guess, because of About.com, I have to do BOTH. I have to be known and reach out to other writers….

I guess what I am babbling about is to know your PURPOSE for social networking and keep it in mind when you undertake your social networking reorg.

Ameyas last blog post..Personal Finance Checkup – What is your Net Worth?

@Strong One – Yep, totally reading your mind. OK, not really; but I’m discovering that a lot of people feel the same way I do.

Strong Ones last blog post..WOO HOO! I Did It! (I think)

Ameyas last blog post..Personal Finance Checkup – What is your Net Worth?

@Melissa – Less than 50 subscriptions. Check!

@Alaia – Prioritize. Um. Working on it?

Thanks for the suggestions so far. It’s good to know I’m not the only one, and I really do want to know how other people are managing this.

Blog reading and commenting definitely ranks high. I try to keep my subscriptions to about 50 or less and that seems to be a manageable number though I definitely don’t comment on all of them!

Melissa Donovans last blog post..Link Love Mad Libs Writing Exercise for Bloggers

I was never much for Twitter, but I’ve got all these people that have started following me, so I tweet occasionally. I only log into Myspace and Facebook when someone sends a message, and I’ve had to cut back on the time I spend in the LinkedIn Q&A section. A lot of social media is great, I just don’t have the kind of schedule that lets me spend hours a day on these sites.

I focus on my new blog first, tweet an update if something interesting happens (unlike friends, who tweet that they can’t figure out what kind of ice cream to get). Spend one to two hours reading interesting blogs (spread throughout the day), and visit LinkedIn if I have time time.

Do what you gotta do! Figure out what’s bringing you the most value and personal satisfaction.

Alaia Williamss last blog post..Six Ways to Simplify

Sigh.

I belong to just a few social networks. You’re right – it does become overwhelming very quickly. There comes a point when you have to say enough is enough, and then do some weeding.